How The Eagles Went From Catastrophe To Champion In Two Years

Philadelphia defensive end Brandon Graham celebrates during the second quarter of the Super Bowl. Graham stripped the ball from fellow Michigan alumnus Tom Brady in the waning minutes of the game.

Gregory Shamus / Getty Images

At long last, the Philadelphia Eagles are finally world champions, after knocking off the New England Patriots in a shootout of historic proportions. Like most Pats Super Bowls, its outcome came down to the wire, as unheralded backup QB Nick Foles ultimately outgunned Tom Brady to win MVP honors. Philly fans celebrated in the only way they knew how: They danced atop cars, scaled lampposts, ran naked through the streets and generally lost their minds in a night of jubilant mayhem. No matter who you were rooting for, it was a lot to process.

What might have been forgotten Sunday night, though, was just how far the team had come in such a short period of time. A little over two years ago, the Eagles were in a state of disarray after a series of failed personnel moves by former coach/GM Chip Kelly. They’d sputtered to a disappointing 6-9 record before Kelly was fired in 2015, and were staring at a roster stocked with far too many overpaid veterans. It seemed like it might take a while to restock the team with enough talent to contend again.

Needless to say, the repair job paid big dividends. And the Eagles’ Super Bowl team might provide a new (old) blueprint for future championship rosters, built as it was by stockpiling raw talent and amassing powerful offensive and defensive lines.

In addition to extending talented players already on the roster, Roseman admitted that one of his strategies while rebuilding the Eagles was to go after highly drafted players who washed out with other clubs. “Those guys, being drafted that high, they obviously have traits in their body that you can bring out with the right coaching system,” Roseman told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. According to Chase Stuart’s system of measuring the amount of draft value on a roster (weighted by each player’s approximate value), the Eagles had more impact players who were high draft picks than any Super Bowl winner since the 2000 Baltimore Ravens — and they ranked sixth-best among champs during the free-agency era.1

Few champs have had as much draft talent as the Eagles

Average draft value on roster (weighted by approximate value) for Super Bowl champions since 1993

Year

Team

Weighted Draft

Year

Team

Weighted Draft

1

1999

Rams

12.8

14

2007

Giants

8.6

2

1993

Cowboys

12.0

15

2015

Broncos

8.4

3

2000

Ravens

11.1

16

1996

Packers

8.4

4

1995

Cowboys

10.5

17

2009

Saints

7.7

5

1994

49ers

10.3

18

2001

Patriots

7.6

6

2017

Eagles

10.3

19

2012

Ravens

7.4

7

2002

Buccaneers

10.3

20

2008

Steelers

7.2

8

1997

Broncos

9.4

21

2014

Patriots

6.8

9

2011

Giants

9.2

22

2004

Patriots

6.8

10

2003

Patriots

9.0

23

1998

Broncos

6.7

11

2006

Colts

9.0

24

2016

Patriots

6.7

12

2005

Steelers

8.8

25

2013

Seahawks

6.1

13

2010

Packers

8.7

Draft value is determined by the expected value of the pick where the player was selected, based on AV.

Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com

Much of that talent was concentrated up front, where six of the team’s nine starters on the offensive and defensive lines were taken in the first two rounds of the draft (and a seventh, Brandon Brooks, was drafted in the third round). By concentrating on the big guys in the trenches, Roseman built a team whose strengths resembled those of the champions of a different age, such as the 49ers, Cowboys and Packers teams that dominated early in the salary-cap era.

Between its offense and defense, Philly got 101 total points of approximate value out of its linemen this season, including 62 from the quintet of Jason Kelce, Lane Johnson, Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham and Brooks. The last Super Bowl winner that got more combined approximate value from its offensive and defensive lines were those 2000 Baltimore Ravens again. And here, too, Philly was only bested by a handful of champs:

Uses Pro-Football-Reference.com’s positional designations, which are incomplete for players who did not start or were primarily backups.

Source: Pro-Football-Reference.com

Given those powerful lines and a talented array of skill-position players who saved their best production for the games that mattered most — Ajayi, Jeffery, Nelson Agholor, Zach Ertz, Corey Clement and Torrey Smith all put up more scrimmage yards per game in the playoffs than in the regular season — it makes sense that Foles was in a position to thrive during his magical postseason run. Losing Wentz to injury was a major blow, but this roster might have been uniquely equipped to adapt to and overcome that loss.

That was a testament to how quickly and effectively Roseman overhauled the Eagles in the wake of the Chip Kelly era. It wasn’t very long ago that Philly’s first-ever Super Bowl crown seemed like a pipe dream — but with the help of some shrewd roster shuffling, it became a reality.